A Bird Feeder for Spring {& Kids Craft}

Wow! Snow might be in the forecast tomorrow, but it's nice out there today!  Breezy Spring days cannot come soon enough for me.  Although here in the midwest we never know what we're gonna get next.  Sometimes we skip right over Spring and straight into sticky humidity.
On the brighter side... 

...A very nice lady over at RedEnvelope kindly sent over a pretty  little package my way.
Seriously pretty.
I love little details and pretty packaging.

 I picked this hanging glass bird feeder from their Mother's Day section.

 LOVE it  ♥  ♥  ♥

Of course we had to hang it in a tree in the front yard right away.   

Yep, that's the little guy and his dog anxiously waiting for a feathered visitor :)

After picking the spot for our bird feeder, we had a little fun whipping up a quick bird craft.  

I came across this pin on pinterest...

 Pretty, right?! 

So we thought we'd make our own version.

 Here's what we did:

♥ Here's hoping Spring days come quickly  ♥



A Disclaimer :)  I was given my hanging glass bird feeder free of charge.  All opinions are mine and mine alone
sharing here: Made By You Monday (Cindy@Skip to my Lou) Tip Me Tuesday (Laurie@Tip Junkie)
Take-A-Look Tuesday (Sugar Bee Crafts)
Inspiration Board (Carolyn@Homework)

Fairy Garden

every year we plant a fairy garden.   it's one of those must do 's on my list.  
even if the kids aren't as excited about it one year, i still do it.      it's an excuse for us grown up girls to enjoy a bit of that long since gone childhood magic.

the kids always get in to it at some point anyway, and they're always disappointed when the garden begins to fade away. 
i wish i could get them to thrive and last a little longer.

i do not have a green thumb.  i wish i did, but my plants almost always die sooner than they should.  

i feel bad when a pretty potted something comes in my home.  i know it's chances of survival aren't good.  

this year i tried succulents.  i thought they were supposed to be hardy and might survive me.  
Maybe?  Time will tell...

last year i was so bummed when our garden bit the dust.  i made a fake one with Styrofoam and sheet moss to last us all year.  

when our garden dies (as it inevitably will) we will have this back-up piece of happiness to pull out ;)
Linking up here: Tatertots and Jello ~ Weekend Wrap Up Lil' Luna Link Up Party Ginger Snap Crafts ~ Wow Me Wednesday

Sweet Little Blue Birds

So on Pinterest I saw these super crazy cute blue candy birds from Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.

Unfortunately, because of food allergies, having certain candy in our house can be a little tricky.

But I HAD to make something like those cute little blue birds.

Instead of tasty candies I used river rocks, which I already had anyway.  

A little cantalina blue paint, a black sharpie, and dab of orange paint later we had our own little birds.

I think they look sweet nestled in the tiny nest.  

tweet. 

Sharing here:
http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com/
http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/
http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/
http://www.houseofhepworths.com/

Planting Donuts?

Happy April Fool's Day!

What tricks do you have up your sleeve today?

My little ladybug girl is so excited that today is "joke day."  

This is one we found on Family Fun complete with printable!

We love free printables!  :)

ladybug can not wait to hand these out...

Fill these printable seed packets with frosted cheerios and you are ready to fool your favorite somebodies!

We used white card stock for printing.

Time to bake  plant the donuts!  

*Come back tonight to link up what you've been working on this week*


Linking here:
http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

Spring Jars

Well hello, Spring.  We have anxiously awaited your arrival. What better way to welcome it than with a garden fairy and gnome?

What we used to make these:

~pictures of your cute little munchkins

~styrofoam

~bamboo skewers

~embellishments for the clothing and wings (scrapbook paper, twine, ribbon, paper flowers...)

~adhesives

~jar

~moss

~any other spring goodness you'd like to add to your jar

Here's what we did:

~Cut out a full body picture of your little munchkin.

~Use glue dots or other adhesive to add embellishments as cute fairy or gnome clothes

~Use a glue gun to attach part of a toothpick or bamboo skewer to the back of your fairy/gnome

 ~Stick your skewer into a small piece of styrofoam (I cut a large block of styrofoam into small pieces)

~Hot glue the styrofoam to the bottom of a jar

~Fill bottom of jar with moss and be sure to cover the styrofoam (helps if the styrofoam is already green!)

  

They would make sweet cupcake toppers in celebration of the first day of Spring, too.  Hmmm...will have to remember that one for next year!




I'm linking up with:
Sugar Bee Crafts
A Diamond in the Stuff
http://todayscreativeblog.net/
http://www.tipjunkie.com/
http://shoprubyjean.com/
http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/
http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com//
http://www.freeprettythingsforyou.com/
http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.yesterdayontuesday.typepad.com/
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/sundae-scoop-link-party-23/
http://www.flamingotoes.com/
http://www.bystephanielynn.com/
http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/

Boxwood Topiary

    I love the look of a boxwood topiary.  I wanted to make a couple, but I wanted to make them for cheap.  

After a while of keeping a look out for good deals I found a couple cute spring pots at Michaels for 40% off, and boxwood balls in the spring section at Hobby Lobby for 30% off.  

In the pot I put Styrofoam and moss (which I already had).  The munchkins helped me find the straight sticks.

Total cost for 2 topiary's was under $10.  Yay for being thrifty! 

More Paper Butterflies in the Shop

Starting today and going through Wednesday save 10% in my shop using coupon code 10forwaiting

Because of some fun family activities happening this week, shop orders placed between Sat. (April 9th) and Wed. (April13th) will be shipped Friday, April 15th.  Since there will be a slight delay in shipping this week I thought I'd offer a coupon for the wait.  :)

I added some pretty little yellow paper butterflies in the shop.  

A few weeks ago I used some green ones I had in my shop at the time to make specimen art.

I used some of the yellow ones to make a mini banner on our little easel chalkboard.  They are mounted on scallops punched from lined note cards and strung up with bakers twine.  

What would you craft with little paper butterflies?

Bless our Nest Wreath

My initial plan was to make a cute Easter wreath covered in pretty painted eggs.  

Plans change.

This is my final product, and 

I love it even more than my original vision for it! 
 

Courtney at A Diamond in the Stuff painted plastic eggs and they looked great.  

It inspired me to make this wreath!

I coated the eggs in primer and then in Krylon's "catalina mist."  

I tried covering the wreath in eggs, but I just wasn't loving the look I had going.  So, I left my partially started wreath mess all over the counter and played outside with the ladybug and little guy.  (It was a gorgeous day here!)  I returned with fresh eyes and a new idea.  

These types of wreaths remind me of a nest so I added 4 of my painted eggs to the bottom 

(4 eggs for the four people in our family).

I cut triangles for the pennant from leftover muslin.  I cut the letters from card stock on my Cricut.  Then I strung the pennant together using brown and white bakers twine. 

 

Happy Crafting!

Participating here:

A Diamond in the Stuff
http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/
http://memakingdo.blogspot.com/
http://itssoverycheri.com/2011/04/17/04-17-2011-party-time/
http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/

This Family Nest

This spring I am loving nests, birds, and butterflies.  
So it's no surprise I adore THIS family nest by sjEngraving on Etsy.  
It's on my wish list.  Hey hubs  - hint, hint :)

Until it's crossed off my wish list I've made my own version.   
I used some rocks I had left from THIS project and a white paint pen to write our initials on each rock. 

I like the idea of using rocks instead of eggs, because it doesn't seem like just Easter decor.  It's a nest you can keep out all year.  This could easily be varied to fit your liking!  You could write out full first names or use different color rocks for boys/girls or parents/children.   

By the way,

if you've been reading my blog you know I really want to learn to sew.

It's a goal I intend to reach by the end of the year.  Well, after much research and saving my "pennies for play" I finally purchased a machine of my own!!!

And look what arrived on my doorstep yesterday...

                 {Woo-hoo!} 

{I'm hoping what it says in the corner of the box is true!}